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Bowling started as a nice way for Paul Beaudoin to spend the weekends with his father and have some fun.

He never thought it would lead to great achievements.

In his sixth year enjoying the hobby-turned-competitive-sport, the Lakeland junior has reached a championship level, earning the title in the Under 17 age group at the Pennsylvania State USBC Youth 2014 Pepsi Championships.

“I am really happy about this season,” Beaudoin said. “It went a whole lot better than I could have ever expected.

“I guess I even surprised myself a little bit.”

Like many of his friends, Beaudoin tried different sports. He played baseball and kicked around a soccer ball.

Each Saturday and Sunday, however, he spent time with his father, Paul, who enjoyed bowling.

The two would go to Idle Hour Bowling Lanes in Dickson City and bond while rolling a few games.

Soon, though, the youngster showed an ability to send the pins crashing.

“For me, it’s a different kind of sport,” Beaudoin said. “It’s a mental and physical game all in one.

“I just really enjoy it.”

In the Lackawanna Bowling Conference, he aspired to reach the level of players like Mid Valley’s Brian Kasperowski, a former league most valuable player.

And with each strike and spare, his father was there cheering him on.

“He puts in a lot of work at this game,” his father said. “At first, it was just something for us to do on the weekends, but once he took off with it, he really started to love it and began concentrating on being very good at it.”

With his confidence building, Beaudoin began to take advice and instruction from Ron Salvatore, who works at Idle Hours.

“Paul was always willing to do everything that we asked of him,” Salvatore said. “He has a real desire to get better. He has a lot of natural ability and his improvement is a credit to him. We can suggest things to help him improve, but he has put it to work.”

While juggling his studies and work schedules, the 17-year-old makes time to roll between 20 and 30 games a week. He also works at Idle Hours part-time on the weekends.

The lanes have truly become his home away from home. And bowling has become his passion.

“If it’s on TV and I have the time to sit down and watch, I am watching,” Beaudoin said. “I am always looking up things and tips on YouTube. I love bowling.

“The only time I get tired of it is if I am going through a slump, but even then, I get right back out there because I want to work harder to break out of the slump.”

■■■

This season has been a breakout one for Beaudoin.

He earned the Mike Meoni Memorial Most Valuable Player Award — named in honor of the late Lakeland bowling coach who helped start the LBC.

During the league season, Beaudoin boasted a high game of 289 and a high series of 785. But even with those gaudy numbers, he did not expect to capture a state title.

At the championship tournament held in Reading in mid-May, Beaudoin, who had already won the District 8 title, competed on the first day and posted a high number. He got in a rhythm and fired a high game of 253 with a series of 744.

Because of the large number of qualifiers for the weekend tournament, some bowled on Saturday and the others finished the next day. Beaudoin returned home and went to work on Sunday.

After his shift, Beaudoin said he raced to his house to check the Internet and see if his score from Day 1 had held up. It did, and he had earned the state championship, a $1,015 scholarship.

“Just making it to states made me happy,” said Beaudoin, , who credits his success to the support he receives from his father and mother, Diane. “I wanted to go there and bowl my game and even if I didn’t win, I wanted to just play well.

“Everything just went right.”

By claiming the championship, Beaudoin also qualified for the North Pointe Junior Gold Championship which will be held July 12-18 in Buffalo, New York.

“I told my dad after states, that I felt like I was over my head a little bit,” Beaudoin said. “I was bowling way beyond what I should have.

“I am a little nervous now because it’s nationals, but I am just going to bowl and have some fun.”

That has been the goal of this journey, all along.

Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com

@JobyFawcett26 on Twitter

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